The paddock headed down under for the fourth round of the season. Welcoming back Carlos Sainz, who made an astonishing recovery from his appendicitis diagnosis that ruled him out of the previous race.
The 2024 edition of the Australian Grand Prix didn’t quite have the drama and chaos of last season, but some reliability gremlins certainly mixed up the order on race day. See who starred and who had a weekend to forget in Melbourne:
Top of the class:
Carlos Sainz – Qualifying: 2nd | Race: 1st
Just 17 days after surgery to remove his appendix, the Spaniard breezed to his third victory in F1 in a truly remarkable return to the paddock. Carlos may have looked visibly uncomfortable out of the car, but once in the cockpit, he was at the top of his game.
In spite of the mechanical DNF suffered by Max Verstappen, I think Carlos had the package to take the win anyway, having been on the pace from the get-go in FP1.
A pair of P3s in Practice was backed by a strong qualifying on Saturday, setting the fastest laps in the first two sessions. Sainz ultimately came up two-tenths short of taking pole, but he importantly secured the second front-row slot.
Sainz took the lead on lap two with a nice pass on Max using DRS into turn 11 and controlled the pace from there. It needs to be said that Verstappen was already complaining over the board radio, but even without the reliability gremlins, the Spaniard looked quick enough to make the pass in the early stages of the race. Sainz then utilised a long first stint and still came out in front of teammate Charles Leclerc, who he would lead across the line to secure the team’s first 1-2 since the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix.
With 40 points the Spaniard sits in P4 despite missing the last round. Had it not been for his illness, he could have found himself leading the Championship at this early stage, and the signs point to a very promising season despite his lack of a seat for 2025 (for now).
Yuki Tsunoda – Qualifying: 8th | Race: 7th (promoted from 8th due to penalties)
Perhaps I jumped the gun questioning Yuki’s position in the team. After a rather mediocre start to the season, he bounced back with a really solid drive to the points in Melbourne.
Making Q3 for the second consecutive race, Yuki even found himself beating both Aston Martin’s on Saturday, which certainly is a confidence boost for the VCARB team.
Sunday’s race was solid, with some nice overtakes especially on former teammate Pierre Gasly (Alpine). The car is arguably sixth-best, so fighting for the points on the fringes will be the target, but what ultimately mattered was that Yuki was on hand to hoover up 6 points owing to the penalty for Fernando Alonso and issues for the Mercedes.
With the friction behind him following the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, securing the result at the home race of teammate Daniel Ricciardo will feel that little bit sweeter as his solo effort moves the team to sixth in the standings.
McLaren
Lando Norris – Qualifying: 3rd (promoted from 4th) | Race: 3rd
Oscar Piastri – Qualifying: 5th (promoted from 6th) | Race: 4th
McLaren find themselves in a healthy position. They comfortably have the third-best car and will be looking forward to heading to a Suzuka track that proved to be so fruitful for the team in 2023. Yet at a Melbourne circuit where they have had some struggles in recent seasons, the team maximised their results once more.
Home hero Oscar Piastri had the measure of qualifying in Q1 and Q2, but it was Lando who capitalised when it mattered to take P4. The Brit was later bumped up to third due to a penalty for Sergio Pérez. With Piastri directly behind him, McLaren had a plan of attack on Sunday, which they executed well.
Norris was able to pressure Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc ahead, but couldn’t find a way past, and with some good team spirit was able to get back by his teammate after stopping later. Norris came home third to take his fourteenth career podium and just five seconds behind race-winner Sainz.
Oscar came home fourth, just outside the podium. The Aussie will have to wait for 2025 to break the podium duck for home races. However, the Aussies can be proud nonetheless. As it is Piastri who still finds himself fifth in the Championship with Lando just a point behind. They’ll also be buoyed by the fact that they have more points than Mercedes and Aston Martin combined.
Honourable mentions:
The first goes to Charles Leclerc for another consistent performance, a second consecutive P2 + FL has brought the Monegasque to just 4 points behind Max Verstappen at the top of the standings.
The second nod goes to Haas. They usually do pretty well in Melbourne and bounced back from a disappointing qualifying to take a double points finish on Sunday as Nico and KMAG finished P9 and P10 respectively. Considering new Team Principal Ayao Komatsu thought they’d be scrapping in P10 in the constructors championship, they can be pleased that they currently find themselves 7th.
The struggle bus:
Mercedes
George Russell – Qualifying: 7th | Race: DNF
Lewis Hamilton – Qualifying: 11th | Race: DNF
The Silver Arrows continue to flounder through 2024, as both cars suffered a rare double-DNF on Sunday, but for two very different reasons.
George was having a somewhat decent Sunday when it all went horribly wrong on the final lap of the race. Chasing Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso for P6, George was caught out by the slowing Aston into turn 6 and crashed into the outside wall after skittling through the gravel trap. Resulting in his F1 W15 coming to rest on its side across the track.
The incident brought out a late VSC to ensure the field could safely navigate the stricken Mercedes, however, it’s yet another incident which tarnishes Russell’s dwindling reputation for wheel-to-wheel racing.
The other side of the garage fared little better, a Q2 exit on Saturday didn’t really come as a surprise. Lewis had looked rather slow all weekend as he was out-qualified once again by George. A gamble on the soft tyres only yielded a one-position gain before he retired on lap 15 with an engine failure.
With zero points and nothing really to shout about, the team will look to forget this weekend in a hurry.
Red Bull
Sergio Pérez – Qualifying: 6th (demoted from 3rd due to penalty) | Race: 5th
Max Verstappen – Qualifying: 1st | Race: DNF
Max was on a nine-race winning streak heading to Albert Park, a track that hasn’t often been kind to him, but he did take victory in 2023. This year his right rear brake calliper decided to halt the streak in its tracks as it combusted on lap 3 of the race, causing his first DNF since an engine failure at the same venue two seasons ago.
The Dutchman had lost the lead on lap two and looked to be in a real fight with both Ferraris, so the reliability issue dashed what could have been a very intriguing battle.
With Max failing to score, Sergio should have been there to pick up the pieces and win the race. Unsurprisingly, this didn’t happen. His issues started in Q1 with a block on the Haas of Nico Hülkenberg which would later lead to a three-place grid drop.
In spite of this, he was still outqualified by Sainz on track before penalties. This means the Mexican has failed to make the front row in any of the three races this season. Sunday’s race was nothing much to write about, making up just one place and finishing nearly a minute behind the leader.
Whilst Red Bull still leads the Championships, plenty of points were left on the table in Melbourne, which could certainly prove costly as Ferrari looks to be building some momentum. It wouldn’t be the first time a team looked incredibly strong in the early stages of a season only to faulter later on.
Williams
Alexander Albon – Qualifying: 12th | Race: 11th
Logan Sargeant – Withdrawn from the weekend
Through no fault of his own, Logan Sargeant was parked for the weekend after giving up his chassis to enable Albon to continue following the Thai driver’s FP1 crash. As the team didn’t have a spare and Alex’s couldn’t be repaired at the track.
I fully get wanting to maximise points, but it’s not like Williams have been particularly close to the points this season, and a move like this does very little for Logan’s confidence when he hadn’t caused significant damage to the purse strings.
Albon came home P11 on Sunday, and this result flatters the team as that relied on a last-lap crash and retirements for drivers you’d expect to be finishing higher. In reality, the weekend was not Williams’ finest. The team will head into the next round with no spare chassis, so both drivers will have to play it safe to avoid a repeat of this weekend.
Dishonourable mentions go to the Stewards, I’ve watched F1 for 15 years and I struggle to recall a decision as bizarre as the one to penalise Alonso with a post-race drive-through for potentially dangerous driving in the run-up to Russell’s crash.
I was under the impression penalties were supposed to be dished out for actions instead of the consequences of those actions, and had George not spectacularly smashed into the barriers I doubt Fernando would have been under the spotlight.
The other dishonourable mention goes to Sauber for a third botched pitstop in as many races. This time it was 31 seconds stationary for Valtteri Bottas and 20 seconds for Zhou Guanyu, but a crew member failed to spot a wheelnut rolling into the fast lane which earned the team a fine.
Next up the paddock will head to Suzuka, Japan, which is taking place in the April slot the sport has been trying to make happen for years. Another early alarm will be required to tune in for round 4 of the 2024 season, lights out at 6 am on Sunday the 7th of April.
